Device for oiling vehicle-axles



Patented Nov. [5, I898.

C. T. MDORMAN. DEVICE FOR OILING VEHICLE AXLES.

(Application filed. Mar. 11, 1897.)

(.No Model.)

1N VEN T OR IVfT/VESSES 4 L, A llomey UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES T. MOORMAN, OF PACKWOOD, IOWA, ASSIGNOR OF TVVO-THIRDS TO CHARLES A. MOORMAN, OF SAME PLACE, AND ELI W. MOORMAN, OF

IOKA, IOWA.

DEVICE FOR OILING VEHICLE-AXLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 614,254, dated November 1 5, 1898.

Application filed March 11, 1897,- Serial No. 626,929. (No model.)

5 State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Oiling Vehicle-Axles; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as Will enable oth- 1 o ers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an improvement upon the device for oiling vehicle-axles patented to me July 2, 1895, No. 542,064.

The objects of the present invention are as 1 follows: First, to provide a frame which will be simpler, cheaper, and more durable than that of the previous device and at the same time will have the feature of elasticity thereof, which holds the foot-pieces automatically into close engagement with the wheel-hub and moves the wheel longitudinally upon the axlespindle as the nut is' unscrewed and causes the lubricant to be distributed throughout the length of the spindle; second, to provide means whereby the lubricant-receptacle may be adjusted to adapt the device for use upon hubs of different lengths; third, to improve the construction of the lubricator proper so as to cause the lubricant to be fed bymechanical force instead of vby gravity alone, which feeding mechanism will be of novel and simple construction; fourth, to provide for the easy removal of the lubricant-receptacle from the rest of the device, and, fifth, to operate the plunger by a horizontal lever without causing the plunger to reciprocate in other than atrue vertical line. 'These several objects are accomplished by the construction 40 which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a device embodying my improvements, showing the same in operation, a part of the lubricant-recep tacle being broken away to show the interior. Fig. 2 is a View, with the lubricator proper in section, showing the position of the parts when the device is about to be applied to a wheel to lubricate the axlespindle.

catch, hereinafter referred to.

illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in

The same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both Views.

In the drawings, A designates a rod preferably comprising the horizontal arm or part a at. oneend, the approximately vertical part a at the other end, and the intermediate bent part a To one end of the part a is pivoted an arm B, which carries the wrench D, and mounted upon the horizontal part a is the frame E, carrying the lubricant-receptacle F. G designates a foot-piece which projects from said frame and is intended to engage one side of the wheel-hub.

Rod A is formed of spring-steel, and the relative position of the parts is such that the space between the foot-pieces G and wrencharm B will normally be less than the length of the wheel-hubs.

In applying the device arm D is turned upon its pivot to admit the wheel-hub, and the footpiece is engaged with one side of the latter,

after which the arm is returned to its normal wrench-head into engagement with the axlenut, and is locked in the latter position by a It will be understood that the inherent elasticity of the rod will hold the foot-piece and nut-detach ing device into close engagement with the hub and automatically causes the wheel to be pressed off the spindle as the nut is unscrewed, and the lubricant is to be distributed throughout the length of said spindle. Thus it will be seen that I gain the important advantages possessed by the corresponding part of my previous construction by a means much more simple and durable than the one employed in that.

The pivoted arm B is provided with a lever O for turning it upon its pivot, and said lever means was provided for adjusting the parts to operate efficiently in connection with dif tant desideratum is answered in this device,

by providing the frame E of the lubricatingreceptacle with lugs c, formed with openings, through which the horizontal part aextends loosely. Said frame is adjustable upon said part a to reduce or increase the space between the foot-pieces G and arm B and is held in adjusted position by means of the setscrew 0. To prevent the frame from turning upon the rod, the latter and the opening through the lugs are flattened, as indicated at c There was also in my said previous device no provision for the removal of the lubricant-receptacle from the device. This desirable end is accomplished herein, as will hereinafter more fully appear.

In the previous device gravity alone was depended upon to feed the oil. This was objeetionable, as many lubricants are so thick that they will not flow freely and when thin the flow is so rapid as to result in a waste of oil. To abolish these disavantages by simple and practicable means, I provide the lower end of the receptacle with a tube II, which extends a proper distance upward into the receptacle and communicates with the spout f. The upper end of this tube is formed with lateral openings h. Fitted tightly within the tube is a plunger I, which when seated is below said lateral openings, so as to prevent the escape of oil, and when raised permits the lubricant to flow into the tube through said lateral openings, from which it is forced by moving the plunger downward. It will be seen that I have provided a simple and practical lubricant-feeding means which will at each reciprocation of the plunger force a certain definite amount of the lubricant onto the spindle, which amount will be determined by the capacity of the tube, which will be of such size as to prevent wastage. To prevent liability of wasting of the lubricant when the device is not in use, I prefer to provide the plunger with a depending conical'valve J, which will fit tightly within the conical bore of the spout f, and also to seat the plunger upon a flange K at the bottom of the tube and provide the under surface with a packing-ring K.

The plunger and valve operating means is preferably pivoted and arranged horizontally, and in order that the plunger may with this form of operating mechanism reciprocate in a true vertical line, so as to operate properly and accomplish their functions eificiently, it is necessary that a sliding connection be made. To this end I prefer to employ two levers L L, one of which, as L, is pivotally attached to the upper end of the plunger-rod and has two longitudinal slots Z Z, while the other is pivoted to the frame of the lubricant-receptacle by a pin which extends through said slot Z and has atone end a laterally-projecting pin which traverses slot l and its other end formed into a handle.

To provide'for removal of the lubricant-receptacle from the frame after the latter has been removed from the rod, the pivot-pin attaching the levers to said frame is detachable, which allows the levers to be removed. The lever I, is detachably secured to the upper end of the plunger-rod, and said frame has a bottom plate 6 upon which the bottom of the receptacle rests, which plate is formed with an opening through which the spout projects.

Preferably the upper end of the plunger-rod is formed with an opening 1', through which the adjacent end of the lever L extends loosely, whereby the two will have a pivotal sliding engagement and may be instantaneously detached from each other.

I am aware that many minor changes in the arrangement and construction of the several parts may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my improvements, what I claim is 1. In a device for oiling vehicle-axles, the combination of a substantially vertical arm, a nu t-detachin g device carried thereby, a sec- 0nd arm, a spring connection between said arms, and a lubricating means horizontally adjustably secured to said second arm.

2. In a device for oiling vehicle-axles, the combination of a spring-rod having a substantially horizontal arm, a substantially vertical arm and an intermediate bent portion, a frame detachably secured to the horizontal arm, a lubricant-receptacle detachably held by said frame, a discharge-valve for said receptacle, a stem connected to the same, an operatinglever for the valve pivoted to said frame and loosely engaging said stem, and a nut-detaching device carried by said vertical arm, substantially as described.

3. In a device for oiling vehicle-axles, the combination of a rod having a substantially horizontally-extending arm, a substantially Vertical arm, and an intermediate spring connecting portion, a nut-detaching device carried by said vertical arm, and a lubricating means horizontally adjustably secured to said horizontal arm.

4:. In a device for oiling vehicle-axles, the combination of the lubricant-receptacle, a frame for supporting the same, said frame having lugs formed with openings, an arm extending through said lugs and upon which the frame is adjustably mounted, a nut-detaching device, and a spring member between said nut-detaching device and receptacle-support to press the same yieldingly toward each other.

5. In a device for oiling vehicle-axles, the combination of a spring-rod having ahorizontally-extending end, a vertically-extending end and a bent intermediate part, a frame mounted adj ustably upon said horizontal end, a lubricant-receptacle carried by said frame, and a nut-detaching device carried by the other end of said rod, said rod operating by its own inherent elasticity to press said receptacle and nut-detaching device yieldingly toward each other.

6. In a device for oiling vehicle-axles, the combination of the lubricant-receptacle, a frame supporting the same, a spring member on one end of which said frame is adjustably supported, a nut-detaching device mounted on the other end of said spring member, said spring member acting to hold said receptacle and nut-detaching device yieldingly toward each other.

7. In a device for oiling axle-spindles, the

combination with the rod, of the frame removably mounted thereon and having its lower end formed With an opening, a removable lu- 'S. M. MOHOSE,

SARAH MoHosE. 

